About Me

At a Glance:

I’m a marketing professional and writer. Clients work with me because I meet their communications objectives with clear, effective copywriting.

Short version:

My clients are typically busy marketing managers, editors, small business owners, and marketing agency professionals. They hire me because they want to supplement their in-house resources and work with an experienced, thorough writing partner.

Although my writing portfolio covers many industries, I do have a lot of experience in healthcare. You’ll see from my writing samples that I effectively translate complex and technical information into copy that’s easy to understand. In fact, I’ve written nearly 700 consumer information healthcare articles–for just one of my clients! I really love conducting research and interviewing people!

My 25 years of experience includes 16 years running my own marketing communications agency. I have an MBA and am a member of the Association of Health Care Journalists. See my full Resume.

Long version

Background

In 1998, I said farewell to the corporate world and founded Marathon Marketing, a marketing and communications agency. In each of my corporate jobs, I wore many hats–experience that comes in handy working with clients in a wide range of industries, all with different needs.

After consulting for more than 10 years, I decided to narrow the focus of my business and concentrate on writing. Writing has always been one of my passions. I started writing articles in high school for a local newspaper and, as an undergraduate student, published an original research study in the scientific journal Brain Research. I’ve written marketing and editorial copy professionally for about 25 years.

My clients are typically busy marketing managers, editorsand small business owners. They hire me because they want to supplement their in-house resources and work with a writing partner who has extensive marketing experience, works independently and delivers copy that’s on time and requires little or no editing. And I do. In fact, out of hundreds of articles I wrote for one client, my editor returned only a few for revisions.

I also work with owners and account executives at other marketing agencies. Agencies that don’t have an in-house copywriter (or do, but need extra help) can expand the scope of their services, delegate writing projects to someone they trust and, in turn, receive copy that makes them look great in the eyes of their clients.

Strengths

Clarity

According to clients and colleagues, one of my key strengths is the ability to “get it” before I start a project. Getting it means understanding a client or project objectives, uncovering the heart of the story or the core concept of a marketing campaign, and having a clear vision of how the writing supports the overall marketing strategy. It also means pulling things apart when necessary and putting them back together in new—and better—ways.

“[Kathy] was able to look at our organization from a different perspective and helped us articulate what we did–both internally and externally.”

Ambiguity = opportunity

I am not bothered by ambiguity and love making sense of things. In fact, some of my favorite projects, such as completing complex award entries, have started with scattered bits and pieces of information and vague ideas, which I’ve pull together creatively and effectively.

Reliability

I do what I say I’m going to do—and then some—on time, within budget.

“Even though herding cats is not on [Kathy’s] official skill list, she has managed through pleasant persuasion to keep our projects on track, for which we are grateful.”

Member: Association of Health Care Journalists

Few fun facts about me

I started my career doing brain surgery on rats and pigeons, with the goal of becoming a neuroscientist.

I am also a professional artist. You can learn more about my art here.

I ran marathons for many years, thus the name of my business.

Acadia National Park in Maine is my favorite place. I hope you enjoy the photos of Acadia sprinkled throughout this site!